Ennead: For Those We Love
by Joey Taylor
Summary: A sudden attack out of nowhere leaves Yugi with no choice but to travel to an island in the middle of nowhere and compete to save her Ojiisan's soul. Can she defeat Pegasus, save everyone and somehow, finally, work out how to interact with Oneesan, all without getting herself killed? FemYugi. Squeal to 'Ennead: Season Zero'
1. Challenger Approaching

It had been several weeks since they had narrowly escaped the Monster World RPG with their lives and a new term had started at Domino High. With the new term had come Yugi's mandatory switch to the female school uniform. Uniform that had been purchased just yesterday morning, fit perfectly and would last a good, long time, however...

"I'm not going!"

Jou couldn't help the chuckle that escaped as Yugi refused point blank to leave her bedroom.

"Yugi, you can't seriously refuse to go to school because of your new uniform." Ojiisan grumbled good-naturedly.

"Yes I can."

Ojiisan shook his head in amusement. Of all the things for Yugi to decide to be a 'normal' teenager about, her uniform hadn't been the thing he had expected her to pick. Curfew, homework, fast food maybe, but uniform? He supposed he couldn't blame her, he couldn't help but wonder who had decided that tiny skirts and curve clinging jackets in a horrendous shade of pink were mandatory for female students at the school. Whoever it was, they needed a slap.

"Yuge, we're going to be late." Jou complained, well aware Yugi didn't like being late to class if she could help it.

"So get going." Yugi's reply made him laugh again.

"Mutou Yugi, you will go to school or I won't let you have first pick of the booster packs that are coming in this afternoon." Ojiisan's tone brokered no argument.

Yugi's bedroom door opened slowly at that, revealing a brightly blushing girl with soft, wide amethyst purple eyes and who had tied her long black hair with its red tips back into a ponytail and her blonde, grown out fringe fell around her face, framing it. The girl's uniform didn't suit her very well, though it made her figure more obvious and though Jou could appreciate that little feature, he didn't like how uncomfortable she looked in it.

"That's not fair." Yugi protested to her Grandfather, the Millennium Puzzle hanging on her chest, held there securely by the rope that hung around her neck.

"You can't miss school." Ojiisan informed her, "No matter how bad the girls' uniform is. Now get going."

"Fine." Yugi's shoulders sank and she tugged down the skirt as she headed for the door, blush firmly stuck in place as she snatched up her backpack.

"Come on Yuge," Jou herded her out the building, picking up both of their bags as they went, "It's doesn't look that bad."

"It's not that it looks bad." Yugi explained, "It's that I could wear this skirt as a belt and this jacket is hideous. I don't see why I couldn't continue to wear the guy's uniform. It's not like I was doing any harm."

Jou just shrugged. Yugi wasn't a typical girl, but he knew better than to try and reason with someone from the female species when they had decided that something was hideous and they didn't want to wear it.

Anzu met them halfway to school, by which point Yugi was looking a little less like a tomato and more like a person again. Anzu spent most of the walk teaching Yugi tricks to make the uniform look a little more reasonable and between that and the reassurance flowing over the link from her older sister, the spirit who lived within her Millennium Puzzle, Yugi felt more ready to face her fellow students.

Amusingly she found that quite a few of the girls in her class were disappointed when she showed up in the female uniform. They had hoped that if Yugi had been allowed to wear the boy's uniform, they would be able to too.

"_That's probably,"_ Yugi thought as everyone settled at their desks when the teacher walked in, _"Why I have to wear the girl's uniform now."_

Anesan didn't respond verbally. Disappointingly the telepathic link, which had strengthened during the Shadow Game against Bakura to the point where they could exchange words as well as emotions, hadn't stayed that way. However the amusement and agreement Yugi sensed from her other self was almost as good.

Yugi mentally chuckled, for once not letting the fact that Anesan could hear her but she couldn't hear her other self, get to her. It was getting a little frustrating that after months of interaction between the pair of them, they still couldn't talk to each other properly. However it would come, the mental chatter between the pair of them during the RPG Shadow Game had reassured her of that.

School was just as boring as normal. Yugi tried her best to concentrate, trying not to slip back into her old habits. It had taken her months to get her grade point average up and allowing herself to slip would make all that work worthless.

When lunchtime came around, however, Yugi and her friends gathered around one desk and after chowing down on their lunch, they all pulled out their decks so Yugi could continue to teach the others how to play Duel Monsters.

"Oh no." Jou protested as Yugi moved to settle on the chair opposite him, "No offence Yuge, but I'd like a chance at winning for a change."

Yugi blinked at the tall, heavyset boy with messy blonde hair who looked as amused as he was frustrated. A couple of weeks ago she had finally taken her Grandfather up on his offer of helping her merge their decks and the Duel Monsters deck she now played with was as yet unmatched by anything her friends had managed to build from their booster pack finds.

Still she hadn't planned to use that deck. Well aware her friends didn't like playing against her deck, which had the Dark Magician and Ojiisan's precious Blue Eyes White Dragon within it, she had built a second deck, a 'training' deck that would be fairer to them.

"It's okay, Yugi." Anzu spoke up. The well built, leggy girl, whose shoulder length brunette hair was loose and kept getting in her eyes, smiled at Yugi, "I want to kick his butt again."

"It was a fluke." Jou protested. "There's no way you'll manage it again."

"What about the other six times?" Honda asked. Almost as tall and heavyset as Jou, Honda hadn't shown any talent in Duel Monsters despite Yugi's best efforts to teach him and the boy, whose brown hair somehow managed to come to a single point at the front of his head, seemed more content heckling Jou then playing the card game. "Because I'm sure those weren't flukes."

"Ah stow it, Honda." Jou grouched as Anzu and Yugi switched places.

Anzu was halfway through trouncing Jou when the last member of their little group returned to the classroom. The half English, half Japanese girl, who was taller than Anzu but not as well built and had long, white hair that reached halfway down her back, was relatively shy in comparison to the rest of the quite boisterous group. However after they had helped her with her darker self's habit of sealing the souls of her friends into game pieces, she had stuck with them, even if it meant she sometimes needed to escape their madness.

"Hi Bakura." Yugi grinned at her, "Anzu's winning again."

"It'll change." Jou grouched.

It didn't change and after his third successive butt kicking he gave up and shoved his deck at Yugi. "Okay, you're the Master at this. What am I doing wrong?"

Yugi quickly skimmed through his deck, her eyes widening as she took in the forty monster cards, some of which were pretty decent, but the complete and utter lack of any magic or trap cards. "Jou? Have you listened to anything I said?" She couldn't help but ask, handing him the deck back and frowning at him.

"Yeah," Jou looked offended, "I've stacked my deck with kickass monsters like you told me."

"I also said you needed you needed magic and trap cards to help your creatures out." Yugi resisted the urge to face palm, "There's no way a deck like this could ever beat a balanced one like Anzu's."

"See, this is why I need training." Jou grumbled.

"Look," Yugi sighed, "When we get home tonight I'll let you raid my spares and we'll go over your deck, okay?" She paused, "After the national finals. Kujaku might be out, but I want to see who wins out of Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki."

She wanted to face palm as Jou started day dreaming at the mention of Kujaku's name. There weren't many women who played Duel Monsters on a competitive level and Yugi actually hoped to run into her one day because it was Kujaku Mai who had inspired her to start competing locally, even if she had missed the regionals this year.

"You could have beaten both of them with one hand tied behind your back." Anzu commented to Yugi, slapping Jou upside the head when she noticed his day dreaming, "And Kujaku too."

"Maybe." Yugi shrugged, not as confident in her skills as her friends were. "But when the regionals were on I was a little busy helping Ojiisan around the shop. It was just after Death-T after all. I couldn't really ditch Ojiisan to go compete. It wouldn't have been fair."

"You weren't playing games then anyway." Jou reminded her, "Too busy sulking."

"I wasn't sulking." Yugi protested, ignoring the curious look on Bakura's face.

"So what do you call not talking to anyone and not playing any games?" Jou continued to tease, "Because it sounds like sulking to me."

"It wasn't sulking." Yugi grumbled, able to sense Oneesan's amusement at the situation and trying to ignore it, "I thought that not playing games would protect you lot, remember?"

Silence fell for a moment as the group remembered all the near misses that had occurred in the last few months, all of them game related in some way, shape or form, before Anzu spoke up, "Is there room for all of us? I'd like to see the regional finals too and I can pay for take away."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Honda agreed, never turning down a free meal, even if he wasn't really interested in the finals. "And maybe we could play something that doesn't involve cards afterwards?"

"Street Fighter?" Jou suggested.

Anzu grimaced but Yugi didn't show her distaste. She wasn't a fan of the Street Fighter games. She had only gotten them so she had some more multiplayer video games in the house. However it was only fair if she was making Honda sit through the finals of a game he obviously had no interest in, to play something he wanted to afterwards.

"Eh, either that or that racing game," Honda nodded, "Gran Turismo."

That wasn't much better but again Yugi wasn't going to complain. Instead she made a mental note to try to throw the games that evening since even Jou's patience with her inability to lose was obviously becoming stretched before settling down to play a game with Bakura.

Bakura was almost as good at games as she was and even without magic, any game that got going between the pair of them was generally an impressive thing to watch. Yugi's friends had been wary of playing anything against Bakura to start with, but the spirit of the Ring hadn't been seen since the Monster World incident and Yugi refused to leave Bakura out for something that wasn't her fault.

Blaming Bakura for the actions of her other self would be like blaming her for Anesan's early actions. Once she had reminded the others of that little fact, they had stopped being quite so jumpy around the other item holder and started including her more.

Yugi and Bakura's game drew some attention, though people complained that the game wasn't as interesting without the holograms that went with the tournament matches. More interesting with holograms or not, it took Yugi long enough to win that the end of lunch had arrived, bringing the rest of the class back to the room and the teacher along with them.

The afternoon was just as dull as the morning and Yugi was mentally poked out of her daydreaming a couple of times by her elder sister. It didn't help that their teacher droned. His monotone guaranteed to send anyone to sleep if exposed to it for too long, almost like a magic spell.

When the bell finally went for the end of the day, Yugi was first out the door. She had followed the nationals all the way through so far and was looking forward to what should be an excellent finale to the three day duelling marathon.

Her friends caught up with her at the shoe lockers where she was fighting with one of her shoes, the tongue of which seemed determined to hide within her plimsoll.

"Geeze, Yuge." Jou chuckled, sneaking up on the girl and making her jump a mile, "Sorry, but anyone would think you're in the Nationals from the way you're acting."

"Sorry, sorry." Yugi grinned back, "I've just been looking forward to this. Duel Monsters was never televised before Kaiba's holograms came out and I want to see what they look like in 3d."

"I suppose I can understand that," Jou allowed as the rest of them changed their shoes, "So what's the big deal about Ryuzaki and Haga anyway?"

Yugi happily babbled away about the pair of finalists as they wandered back to the game shop. Haga favoured Insect monsters, while Ryuzaki had a preference for Dinosaurs, hence their nicknames and Yugi had pretty much mapped out their decks.

"I'm pretty sure," She was saying as they arrived at the front of the shop, only to find that it was already closed so Ojiisan could watch the finals with them, "That Insector Haga's going to win. Ryuzaki is too focused on offensive strength in his play style. Haga's going to steal the rug out from under him."

"Speaking of offensive strength," Jou postured earning himself an eye roll from Anzu and a small, amused smile from Yugi, "You said I could raid your spares."

"Let me get them out." Yugi chuckled, starting to head upstairs when her Grandfather imposed himself in the way, carrying a rather large box.

"You got a package." Ojiisan informed her, passing her the plain white box that had a video cassette embedded in it.

"I did?" Yugi blinked, surprised. She hadn't ordered anything and she wasn't expecting anything from anyone else, especially one with a video tape, so it was with great confusion and curiosity that she carried the box upstairs.

"So?" Jou asked, hovering around, trying to get a better look, "What is it?"

"Finals first," Yugi shook her head, putting it down on the table and going for her spares, "Package later."

"But Yuge..." Jou whined as he followed her to her room, hovering in the door as Yugi got the box from bottom drawer of the brand new desk she recently acquired.

"It could be nothing." Yugi pointed out as they returned to the front room where Anzu was taking takeaway orders, "You're getting worked up before you even know what it is."

The food arrived just as the match started. It was a well fought one but Yugi's prediction was accurate as Ryuzaki's beat down deck struggled to compensate for the tricks and traps of Haga's, leaving the dinosaur Duelist sulking in the dust.

Pegasus J. Crawford, the American man who had created the game of Duel Monsters, personally handed Haga the trophy and followed it up with an invitation to the new tournament that was coming up in just over a week's time that would be held at a place called Duelist Kingdom.

Once that little display was over and the last of the food have been devoured, Jou turned to the spares box and practically dove into it in his search for cards that could help his deck out.

It wasn't until after Bakura had gone home and Yugi had helped Jou sort his deck into a much more playable state while taking turns on the games that Honda put on the tv, that she remembered about the package that had been sitting on the side, ignored by the group.

"So?" Jou prodded her, having been looking forward to seeing what was in the package all evening. "You opening it or staring at it?"

"Give me a chance." Yugi chuckled as she pulled off the packing tape and opened the package, confusion crossing her features as she took in what was inside. "A glove?" She asked, pulling out the red glove with it's odd metal band around the wrist that had star shaped dents in. "Two golden stars," She tried to insert them into the divets and found they stayed in securely. "And the video tape..."

"Maybe the explanation's on the tape." Jou offered, examining the cassette, "Can you play it, Yuge?"

"Yup." Yugi took the tape from her friend and after getting Honda's okay to turn the TV over, she flipped over to the channel the video player was tuned into, inserting the tape as she did so.

The moment the tape started playing a Caucasian man, whose long, silvery purple hair covered one of his eyes, appeared on screen.

"Hello! At last we meet, Yugi-girl." The man on screen grinned, "Nice to meet you."

Yugi blinked, confusion obvious.

"Isn't that?" Jou asked, trailing off.

"The American who was just on TV." Yugi nodded, still shocked, "The guy who created Duel Monsters, Pegasus something..."

"No, no," The recording continued, "Don't be so surprised. I just wanted to send a video letter to the esteemed Yugi-girl. The _real_ World Champion."

So he had heard of her defeat of Kaiba, who was still officially World Champion of the game even if she had beaten him in a rather publicised Duel. Still she was still only an up and comer on the official tournament circuit, so she wasn't quite sure what he wanted.

"I understand you are very skilled at Duel Monsters." Pegasus continued, looking excited about something, "After all you defeated Kaiba-boy! Good job on that, by the way." Then he seemed to settle down, "Now, shall we get down to business, Yugi-girl?" He asked, a small, smug smile on his features, "I want to test your skill, right here and now! I challenge you to face this video recording of me at Duel Monsters!"

"What?" Yugi yelped.

"How can Yugi play against someone recorded on a tape?" Sugoroku complained, "Impossible! That's no challenge. He can't even know what cards Yugi plays!"

"All right?" Pegasus asked, oblivious to the comments, "There's a false bottom on the package I sent you, use the cards within to build your deck in front of the monitor. In five minutes our duel will begin."

Yugi didn't have to think about it very long, she opened the false bottom and found the cards he was talking about. There was enough for two or three decks and she made up her mind as she examined them. "Okay." She nodded, looking up at the screen, "I'll take on any challenge."

"You serious Yuge?" Jou asked, still trying to work out how this would work.

"Yeah," She nodded. Even if it was just a recording, the creator of the game was challenging _her_, people dreamed of chances like this, "I'll do it."

She settled on the floor, picking and choosing the cards from the box as she assembled a forty card deck, "Okay," She spoke again at the four minute, thirty seven second mark, "My deck's ready."

Twenty three seconds later the tape asked, "Are you ready? Then let's go!"

"Duel!" Both Yugi and Pegasus spoke at the same time.

"Okay," Yugi started, "I'll start by summoning the Koumori Dragon, the devil dragon card, in attack mode!" She put it in front of the screen.

"Let me guess...the Koumori Dragon, right?" Pegasus asked.

"What?" Yugi yelped, staring at the screen, There had been over two hundred cards in that box and goodness only knew how many deck combinations, and he had just managed to guess her first card first time?

"This can't be!" Jou spoke up, his voice cutting through Yugi's shock, "How can he see the cards across the screen?"

"You see, Yugi-girl, I knew you were going to play that card. Why, I even know what's in your hand." Pegasus gloated, "You're planning to fuse your Koumori Dragon with your Dragon Champion next turn to increase your attack power. Am I wrong?"

No. No he wasn't. Yugi didn't understand how he knew what she had been planning, but somehow he knew. _"Is he reading my mind?"_

"Heh heh." Pegasus chuckled, "We can't have that, so I'll remove your Koumori Dragon from the field with my Dragon Capture Jar."

Pegasus held up the card and Yugi's dragon vanished into a pillar of smoke which somehow entered the television.

"_He just... my creature got sucked into the TV!"_ Yugi couldn't believe her eyes. This was impossible unless this wasn't just some pre recorded Duel. Dread coursed through her as she realised what she had just walked into without thinking, _"This isn't a normal Duel," _She thought, _"This is a Shadow Game."_

Oneesan seized control, glowering at the screen, having hoped to have a little longer before the next adversary came along, _'This isn't going to be easy.'_ She thought with a mental grimace, _'I'm fighting the man who made the game but how? How can a guy on a pre-recorded tape read my cards.'_

"I'll be the one to take you on." Oneesan spoke aloud, ignoring the surprised sounds from her friends and Ojiisan as they realised which Yugi was in control at this exact moment, "So don't mess with me."

"Aww, come on gloomy." Pegasus taunted, "Why do you look so angry? It's just a game, let's both enjoy it."

Oneesan bristled at his taunt, only to feel the mental equivalent of a hand on her shoulder, Imoto-chan stepping up to help her focus less on their frustrating opponent and more on how to get around his apparent ability to read her mind.

"Now, Yugi-girl, shall we move on with the game?" Pegasus continued to taunt, "It's your turn after all."

"Fine." Oneesan nodded, able to sense the magic flowing now she was paying attention and kicking herself for not being more careful as she drew the Baby Dragon out of her deck.

"Take your time and think it over, Yugi-girl." Pegasus spoke as she went to play the dragon, "Even your precious Blue Eyes White Dragon is powerless against this card." He tapped the Dragon Capture Jar on the table in front of him. "This is a rare new card that I just created. The game never stops evolving. There's always some new card you've got to have."

'_Because being able to create any card you needed at any time isn't cheating in the slightest.'_ Oneesan thought sarcastically. "Fine, then I'll take you on with..."

"Silver Fang, correct, Yugi-girl?" Pegasus finished before she could finish putting the card down, causing her to freeze in shock three quarters of the way though the motion. "You plan on playing Mystical Moon next turn to boost his strength by turning him savage."

'_He read me again!'_ Oneesan's thought was part shock, part frustration.

The wolf like creatures seemed to form out of a fog that rose from the card in front of Oneesan as Pegasus continued talking, "Beast Monsters hate fire, so this card should be enough, I summon Dragon Piper and use his effect to unseal the Dragon Capture Jar."

'_Giving him control over my Koumori Dragon, no doubt.'_

"That's right, Yugi-girl." Pegasus replied to her thought, causing Oneesan to let out a low growl as she realised it wasn't just her strategies he was reading. "The Piper's power gives me control over your Dragon." The spirit of the Puzzle had to fight not to recoil from the dragon head that emerged from the screen. "The Devil Dragon's fire destroys the wolf!" Pegasus cackled as Oneesan threw up an arm to shield herself from the heat of the attack, wincing against the flames as they narrowly missed her.

"Oh dear, Yugi-girl," Pegasus started taunting again as Oneesan's life points decreased, "I heard you were pretty good, but I know your strategies like the back of my hand! Must be a little jarring for you, huh? Get it, jarring? That's a joke."

"Take this!" Oneesan was in no mood for his lousy puns and even Imoto-chan's attempts to calm her didn't help as she snatched a card from her hand and played it without thought, "The water monster, Great White!" The huge shark appeared between her and the screen, its attack points higher than the dragons, allowing her to destroy it.

Pegasus countered with an electric monster which had less attack points than Oneesan's shark, but with the type advantage it wiped out Great White in a burst of electricity that lit up the room.

'_Why? Why does he know all my plans?'_ Oneesan glowered at her hand, though it wasn't the deck she was mad at.

"I understand your shock, but this is reality, Yugi-girl." Pegasus's tone was serious now, "You cannot defeat me."

She didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. If she couldn't stop his mind reading, then she had no chance of defeating him, no matter what she did.

"Yugi!"

"Yugi! Don't give up!"

Oneesan glanced over her shoulders and offered her friends a grateful and reassuring smile at their calls.

"Now," Pegasus continued, causing her to turn back to the screen, "I think it's about time to tell you the other reason I Challenged you. It wasn't just for fun." Oneesan had kind of guessed that when she had taken over. It was a lot of work to call up a Shadow Game when the person was in the same room as you, yet alone a different continent. It wasn't something someone did for fun either, so she had known he wanted something else, she just didn't know what. "Hear this, Yugi-girl, when you lose this game, you must take part in a tournament my company, Industrial Illusions, is holding! That event will determine the True Champion of Duel Monsters, the King of Games!" He paused, smirking slightly, "Or Queen, of course."

'_King of Games?'_ Oneesan wondered.

"To be honest I'd wanted Kaiba-boy to come too, but it's too bad. I hear he's not going to recover." Pegasus looked disappointed. For some reason Oneesan had no great urge to share the fact she knew Kaiba would recover, given enough time. Not with this creep. "Anyway, the one who becomes King or Queen will also win a large sum of money! And something even more valuable! Wait till you find out what it is!"

"What if I refuse?" Oneesan asked, "I have no interest in your tournament."

"Ah but you see, Yugi-girl, you can't refuse. Because you can't defeat me. There's no escape."

"Oh really?" Oneesan couldn't help but be amused, pride piqued now, "Well I haven't lost yet."

"Okay," Pegasus allowed, seeming amused by her inability to just surrender when the game was so obviously against her, "Then let's keep playing. That's the spirit Yugi-girl, I knew you'd say that."

"Let's go!" Oneesan called, drawing a card, thinking as she did so, _'There has to be a reason he can read my hand, what is it?' _She glanced at her hand, _'I'll play this card...'_ She trailed off, considering the zombie card again. She had picked the card without thinking, relying on the sixth sense that normally guided her through games without fail, but a thought occurred to her.

"I play this card face down." She called before turning to the group watching, "You lot haven't seen the card I played, right?"

"Of course not," Jou shook his head, the others in agreement, "You're the only one who saw it."

"Okay," Oneesan nodded, "I want everyone to use their sixth sense to tell me what this card is."

"Uhh, Yuge?" Jou asked, "You do remember you're the one with the powers, right?"

"That doesn't matter." Oneesan shot back, "Just say whatever pops into your head."

"Well..." Ojiisan said slowly but thoughtfully, "I got the picture of a skull."

"I'm thinking of a cool warrior!" Jou smirked.

"Well actually," Anzu looked confused by the whole thing, "I thought the same as Ojiisan did. A skeleton."

"Me too." Honda agreed.

'_Ha!'_ Oneesan grinned, _'I was right! Three out of four guessed a zombie type monster. This isn't a coincidence.'_ She chuckled slightly, _'Now I get it, I know how he could 'see through my cards.'"_

Pegasus chuckled, "As amusing as this all is, it's my turn and while I hate to repeat myself, I know what card you've just played. An undead zombie monster."

"What?" The gang yelped, "He said the same thing we did!"

"I play the Rogue Doll! Her 'Holy Light of Shining Chaos' will obliterate all undead monsters. I win, Yugi-girl!"

"I knew it." Oneesan_'s_ chuckle surprised her friends, "He's inserted frames into the film. He's using subliminal messaging. Probably has been since I started building my deck, using the images he's hidden in the film to encourage me to pick the deck he _wanted_ me to build." She felt her other self's surprise and outrage at that and tried to soothe her little sister's mind. Imoto-chan hated cheaters as much as she did and the fact had been manipulated from the start was grating on the girl's nerves.

"This battle is mine!" Pegasus crowed, "I win Yugi-girl!"

"Is that so?" Oneesan chuckled, "The card I played face down was," She flipped it face up and the monster appeared before her, shielding her from the man on screen, "The Dark Magician!"

The Spellcaster monster blew away Pegasus's Rogue Doll but Pegasus didn't seem too worried.

"Heh, I also knew that it was about time for you to see through my trick." Pegasus chuckled, completely unbothered.

"Don't be a sore loser, you cheat." Oneesan scolded him.

"Ah but I knew you were going to do that." Pegasus corrected her, "I just took the hit to keep things fair. It was recorded on the tape after all."

So the subliminal messaging wasn't his only trick. Oneesan grimaced slightly, her delight in working out Pegasus's cheating subdued by the fact that Pegasus was still, somehow reading her mind and reading her hand turns in advance.

"Now comes the real Duel, Yugi-girl." Pegasus crowed.

"You want it, you got it, Pegasus!" Oneesan snapped back.

"However you are fighting a video of me and there's only so much film left on the tape, so let's add a time limit to this game." A timer with 15 minutes appeared in the top right corner of the screen, "The one whose life points are higher when the timer hits zero wins and, of course, a Penalty Game awaits the loser."

Oneesan grimaced. As if her situation hadn't been dangerous enough before... She could hear the slightly worried whispering of her friends as she started her move, her Dark Magician blowing away Pegasus's second monster, leaving the creator of Duel Monsters with just three hundred life points left.

"Oh no!" Pegasus moaned as his creature died.

"You're nothing, Pegasus!" Oneesan smirked at him, certain she could get around his tricks if she was careful. "Your life is running out!"

Pegasus drew out his turn, taking almost right up to the five minute turn time limit before he drew, a delighted chuckle escaping his lips, "Oh I can't believe it!" He laughed, "My next card is the Illusionist Faceless Mage!"

He played the monster which was much weaker than Oneesan's Dark Magician, in attack mode.

"But shouldn't O...Yuge's card be stronger?" Jou asked, "Doesn't that mean she wins?"

"Not necessarily." Ojiisan grimaced, "Strength isn't everything in this game. Every monster and magic user in the game belongs to a particular type and they're all stronger or weaker against other types."

"So even if they're stronger they can still lose, if they're the wrong type?" Anzu asked.

"Exactly." Ojiisan nodded, "That's what makes strategy so important in this game."

"I'm not done yet." Pegasus informed them, "I play the Illusion card, the Eye of Deception and combo attack the Dark Magician!"

The two spellcasters blasted each other but both were still standing when the smoke cleared.

The timer by this point had gone down to five minutes and Oneesan considered it carefully as she drew, deliberately not looking at the card for more than a brief glance, smirking when she saw it was the Celtic Guardian.

'_If I play defensively, I win when the timer runs out.'_ Oneesan thought, _'But that's the path of a coward.'_ She glowered at Pegasus, "I'll fight to the end! Celtic Guardian!" She summoned the monster, "Take out his mage!"

She was in for a shock as, to the sound of the Illusionist Faceless Mage's laughter, something struck the Celtic Guardian from behind, destroying Oneesan's creature and dropping her lifepoints to two hundred.

"Wha..." Oneesan watched, horrified and shocked as her Dark Magician moved to Pegasus's side of the field, the eye symbol on his chest. Pegasus's Eye of Deception had brainwashed the Dark Magician and caused it to betray her and now she was going to lose unless...

8...

"I pass my turn." Pegasus crowed, with just seconds left on the timer. "I win after all."

7...

"It's not over yet!" Oneesan snarled, drawing the Summoned Skull.

6...

"My demon trumps your Illusionist." She played the card.

5...

"Attack!"

4...

The demon appeared on the field and loosed an attack that launched through the television, cutting off as the timer hit zero, just millimetres from the Illusionist Faceless Mage.

The Duel was over. Oneesan had lost.

Fear trembled across the link from Yugi, echoing the dread in Oneesan's heart as Pegasus cackled. Yugi's friends sounded worried as they called her name but no one dared move. The threat of a Penalty Game was fresh in all their minds and none of them knew what was going to happen.

"My dear Yugi-girl, you have more talent than I expected, I predict we will meet again at Duelist Kingdom. By the rules of most trading card games, I could take one of your best cards and while your Blue Eyes or your Dark Magician are tempting prizes, I could make my own. So, Yugi-girl, I'm going to take something special to you instead. That way you won't try to escape me!"

Light erupted from the screen. Oneesan instinctively tried to shield her little sister from the spell Pegasus was casting as his voice echoed around the living room.

"Penalty Game!"

Then the light was gone, confusing Oneesan. She had expected Pegasus to do something to her for losing. Or worse, expected him to harm Imoto-chan in some way, but nothing seemed to have happened.

"Ojiisan!"

At Jou's cry, Oneesan wheeled around, turning to find her grandfather was on his back, barely breathing and staring through empty, blank eyes at the ceiling.

"Ojiisan!" Oneesan darted to his side, "Ojiisan! What's wrong!"

"And now!" Pegasus sounded amused, his voice drawing Oneesan' attention back, even as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. "The reason I can read your mind, Yugi-girl!" The CEO of Industrial Illusions pulled the hair away from his eye to reveal a golden eye in his left eye socket, an eye which had the same wadjet eye on as her Puzzle.

"_The Millennium Eye!"_ Pegasus's voice bounced around her mind, _"And it's Mind Scan! It gives me the power to see into the hearts of my opponents!"_

'_The Millennium Eye...'_ Oneesan couldn't help but stare, horrified at the item, something about it distressing her greatly, intensifying the emotions flooding her from both her own mind and her little sister's.

"Now," Pegasus spoke aloud, "Let's meet at my Kingdom. If you defeat me, you'll get your something special back." With that Pegasus's image faded out to be replaced by Ojiisan's, super imposed over a screen of white noise.

"Yugi!" He cried, pressing his hands against the screen, "Yugi!"

"Ojiisan!" Oneesan yelped, realising as she glanced between the screen and Ojiisan's body what had happened, especially when the tape ran out and Ojiisan's image vanished.

She had lost. Lost because she had been overconfident, unable to just wait for the clock to tick down and had walked into Pegasus's trap and Ojiisan had paid the price for it.

Pegasus had trapped his soul within the video tape.

**LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

**Author Note: And so 'For Those We Love' begins. Pegasus is a world class douche.**

**Oh, heads up, my dictionary, which is set to English (U.K.) since that's where I live, is convinced that Duelist is spelt with two 'l's so if you see a 'double l' Duelist during the course of this story that's why.**

**Can anyone tell me the names of the people who decided that English English and American English should have things spelt differently? Because I want to go back in time and kick them in the nuts. **


	2. Picking Up the Gauntlet

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

"Good morning?" She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. "What did my other self do now?" She asked as she moved over to the group.

"It wasn't her fault." She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi's grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, "Good morning, Bakura-chan."

"G...Good morning, Mutou-san?" It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. "Is he really...?"

"Yeah." Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. "Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan's soul into the tape when she lost."

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou's words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi's Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn't really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

"Can you get him out?" She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

"No." Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn't help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. "Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles."

'_Of course they did.'_ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn't, _'The Penalty was set _against_ them. They will have to fulfil the 'out' clause before they will be able to free him.'_

"_Could we do it?"_ Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. _"Could we free Yugi's Grandfather?"_

'_I don't know,'_ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason,_ 'And quite frankly I don't care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...'_

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, "Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!" at the top of his lungs.

"Jonouchi!" Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. "Seriously! I don't think that'll help."

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend's lunacy.

"Anyway, if you want to save Ojiisan, it looks like we have to get back at Pegasus." Jou frowned, turning serious again.

Yugi nodded, "That's what he said, 'come to my Kingdom.' He said that's where he's going to crown the King, or Queen, of Games."

"You said that Pegasus has a Millennium Item, didn't you?" Bakura asked, curious about what his item was like.

"He doesn't just have one." Jou replied, pointing at his eye, "He dug out his eye to put it in."

Bakura sensed amused recognition from her Other Self, causing her curiosity to grow. "I'm just curious about who made them, how do they work and what are they for," Bakura replied, "I bet Pegasus knows the answer."

With every word Yugi felt her elder sister grow even more uncomfortable with the topic. Something about the Millennium Eye had set something off in her mind and Bakura's words were only making the problem worse. Able to sense Anesan's need to get away from the conversation, Yugi pushed herself away from the table, standing as she did so.

"Yuge?" Jou asked, worried.

"I'm okay, I just..." Yugi trailed off, pausing to think about how she wanted to phrase it, "Anesan just needs some time alone. I'll be back before class starts. Look after Ojiisan?"

When Jou nodded Yugi shot out of the classroom. Bakura followed, or rather her Other Self did. The spirit of the Ring took over halfway to the door, unwilling to let the Millennium Puzzle or its holder wander off alone when there was someone after _her_ prize.

She followed the girl up to the roof, where Yugi propped open the fire door so she didn't get trapped up there and then switched out with the ancient spirit who had failed so badly.

The Pharaoh gripped the wire fencing around the edge of the roof, leaning her forehead against it, a frustrated snarl escaping the girl's throat before she practically screamed her anger to the heavens.

'_He wasn't lying. How can I win against an opponent who knows what cards I have and what I'm going to do, the moment I think of it?'_ Oneesan thought, last night's events playing through her mind, unable to understand why the Millennium Eye set her on edge so badly. The Ring had apparently belonged to the woman she had sacrificed herself to defeat, and yet it was the Eye that set her on edge more than any item she had faced to date.

It didn't help her mood that she could sense Imoto-chan's disgust at herself for walking into Pegasus's trap and her fear for her grandfather. That they would fail and he would remain trapped forever.

It was her fault. She had been the one to let pride dictate her actions and lost the Duel. They had had that Duel won, or she thought they had and she had thrown it away because she hadn't been able to just wait. If she hadn't been so determined to wipe out all of Pegasus's life points Ojiisan wouldn't be sealed away and Imoto-chan wouldn't be miserable.

The Shadows shifted behind her and she wheeled around, looking around the roof, trying to spot who or what it was.

"Bakura," She called, having some idea of what the problem was, "If you're up here I'm in no mood for your games."

The other Item Spirit stepped out of her hiding spot, a smirk on her features, "So you don't want to play with me? I'm offended." Oneesan just scowled at her, "Oh don't worry, it's much more fun to watch you drown in your own self loathing than it would be to put you out of your misery."

"Thanks." Oneesan huffed at her, "So is there a reason you followed me up here? Or are you just here to gloat?"

"Gloat, mostly." Bakura chuckled at the other spirit, unable to help but rub salt in the wound a little.

"What do you know about the Eye?" Oneesan didn't want to ask an enemy for advice. However the other spirit had been 'awake' much longer than she had, had dealt with the Millennium Items before and there was no one else she could turn to for information.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Bakura asked, considering the spirit before her carefully, "I mean I was beginning to think you were having me on, but you really don't remember."

"Forget I asked." Oneesan hissed, turning around to look at the school grounds again as she did so, not in the mood to be made fun of, especially by Bakura.

Bakura considered the girl in front of her carefully. Part of her felt guilty for kicking the former Queen when she was down. Unlike her beast of a father, the only crime 'Oneesan' was guilty of was getting in Bakura's way. The sons inherited the sins of the Father after all, not the daughters. And in the past the spirit in front of her had tried to atone for her father's crimes. They had even been friends until everything had fallen apart beyond repair.

However the rest of her remembered the moment she had thought that the Pharaoh had betrayed her, the moment she had sold her soul to the demon that had been haunting her for a chance for revenge against the whole blood line.

A chance she had taken whole heartedly and without reservation, ruining Egypt and nearly killing her friend before the Pharaoh had managed to seal both of them away, apparently giving up her name and memories in the process.

"The Millennium Eyes gives its holder the power to see in the hearts of others and read their minds." Bakura answered her, moving to Oneesan's side, figuring that she at least owed her that much for making the dice roll that had saved her life. "It was held, originally, by your Uncle." She chuckled slightly at the shocked look Oneesan gave her, "And yes, he was an ass too, before you ask. Unfortunately it's one of the few items I haven't run into over the last three thousand years."

"So you don't know how to fight it either." Oneesan nodded her understanding, even as she sounded frustrated.

"Unfortunately not." Bakura agreed with her irritation. She needed all seven Millennium Items to fulfil her pact with the demon she had sold her soul to and not knowing how to obtain one was incredibly annoying.

Amusement flickered across Oneesan's features for a moment as she glanced at Bakura, "What, no plans to steal it?"

"Oh I plan on taking it. I just plan on being smart about it." Bakura shot back, "Some of us don't walk into Shadow Games by accident after all. I mean seriously, that's two now. You've gotten careless over the last three thousand years."

"It wasn't...me..." Oneesan trailed off. Technically it had been. Imoto-chan was half of her soul and it had been Imoto-chan who had gotten suckered into both traps. "Shut it."

Bakura just chuckled and headed for the fire exit that led back down into the building, "Just don't lose that Puzzle before I get a second shot at it. I've already claimed it as mine." With that she slipped through the fire door, letting it slam shut behind her.

Oneesan started cussing as she realised Bakura had just trapped her on the roof.

**LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

It was a couple of hours before Jou could get out of class and go looking for Yugi, by which time she had tried yanking on the door, shoving it, yelling, screaming, waving, jumping up and down and chucking things off the roof. She had finally given up worrying about anything and started cloud watching when none of it had worked.

Since Yugi hadn't been willing to get Bakura into trouble, she hadn't mentioned the fact she had been stuck on the roof and merely apologised for arriving late, earning herself an undeserved detention.

Jou wasn't home when she got there, having needed to pop back to his father's flat for something and the building felt empty and lifeless without her Grandfather there to greet her as she walked through the door. An envelope was attached to the entrance way and she carefully peeled off the tape, making a note to clean the sticky residue off of the glass and looked inside it.

There were three Duel Monster cards within.

All of them had the plain yellow section at the bottom that signified that they were plain, ordinary monster cards, except none of them were actual monsters. There was one with a picture of a pile of treasure, titled 'Glory of the King's Hand'. Another was a blank card with no picture, no blurb, no attack and no defence. Just a plain, normal monster card that was titled 'The Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.'

The last had the picture of a boat on with a date, time and location.

The invite for Duellist Kingdom had finally arrived.

She slipped inside, examining the three cards carefully. The blank one made her uneasy for some unknown reason. It was obvious what the 'Glory of the King's Hand' was about, the prize money that was on offer. And the boat one was the only way someone could know where they had to be and at what time.

But what did the 'Glory of the King's Opposite Hand' stand for?

She set up Ojiisan's tape in the portable tape player as she made herself dinner and the pair of them chatted and tried to work out a plan between them for handling Pegasus. Frustratingly it came to nothing. Neither of them could think of a way around Pegasus's mind reading. Not when Pegasus had been able to read their minds so easily, no matter who was in control of the body.

Their planning session was interrupted when Jou arrived back at the flat, running up the stairs and searching them out, obviously having run the whole way here as he was sweaty, out of breath and looking a little panicked.

"Jou?" Yugi asked, worried as he pulled a tape out of his bag, not saying anything as he gasped in air, waving it at Yugi.

"Don't...have tape player...at home." Jou panted, "Can I watch...here?"

Yugi hurried him through to the living room, grabbing the portable video player as she did so. She could show Jou the cards later, his tape seemed more important.

Jou had already inserted the tape by the time Yugi had finished grabbing a hot drink for her friend and as he hit play she was started to see a girl appear on screen with long, straight auburn hair and dull greenish brown eyes.

"Hi there Katsuya." The girl waved, "How's my Oniisan?"

"Shizuka..." Jou breathed, the name the only thing Yugi caught in her startled state. She hadn't known Jou had a little sister. Why hadn't he ever mentioned her?

"It's been a long time." Shizuka chuckled, "I'm sending you a video so you don't forget what I look like but," Her face grew more serious, "I wish I could see your face too." Jou's sister let out a sigh, "Actually I really wanted to see you in person instead of by video but you're so busy and we live so far apart... I just wanted to see your face one last time."

Yugi glanced at her friend, who had gone white at that announcement, panic etched in every fibre of his being. What did she mean? 'One last time?'

"Katsuya, don't tell Oto-san about this video." Shizuka begged, "And well... I guess that's all. Take care of yourself. Goodbye, Oniisan."

With that the recording stopped, leaving behind a screen of white noise and a pale faced, slumped, defeated looking Jonouchi.

"Jou?" Yugi asked, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder and sitting next to him.

"My parents split up six years ago." His voice trembled as he explained, needing Yugi's comfort to be able to tell the story, "Imoto-chan went with Okaasan. They live pretty far away. Too far for me to go on my wages." He took a deep, trembling breath and seemed to need to brace himself for what was next, "Imoto-chan's had problems with her eyes since she was born. The doctors say she'll go blind eventually."

Yugi's own horrified shock was echoed by her elder sister.

"When she said 'one last time,' that means the Docs told her the time has finally come." Jou continued, not looking up, "They say that with the most advanced medical treatment in the world there's a fifty percent chance they can do the surgery, but where can I get that kind of money?"

Yugi knew her Ojiisan. He would have offered the money to get him to his sister, but they couldn't afford to pay for the surgery. Not even on what they took in from the shop.

"I'm her Oniisan, but I can't do anything to help her! Not one thing! I'm useless!" Tears were was evident on his cheeks as they were in his voice now and Yugi moved around and hugged him tightly. She felt Jou stiffen up for a moment and then she was being smothered in a tight hug from a boy wracked with anguish and for once not ashamed to let the tears fall.

"Easy. It'll be okay..." She murmured when Jou finally pulled away, a thought occurring to her. There was a way for Jou to make a lot of money quickly. It was less than a week to the Duelist Kingdom and one of the prizes was a ridiculously large sum of money. He could use that to pay for Shizuka's operation.

Jou watched in confusion as Yugi switched with Oneesan, who picked a card and a star chip up off of the table, bringing them both in front of him. "O...Oneesan?"

"This is proof you're a Duelist." She explained, offering one him the star chip, "With it you'll be able to enter Duelist Kingdom. Let's go, together, to save Ojiisan and your Imoto-chan."

"But..." Jou paused as she showed him the 'Glory of the King's Hand' card, realising that in this, like almost everything else, Oneesan was being dead serious.

"The prize money, remember?" She smiled at him, "We have a week, I'm sure I can get you up to scratch by then."

"Y...Yeah." Jou nodded, enthusiasm beginning to kick in as he realised that he could at least try and do something, he wasn't stuck just waiting for the inevitable.

"And in the mean time," Ojiisan's voice piped up from the portable video player, "You're going to visit your sister."

"But..." Jou looked over at him, confused.

"I always keep some spare cash in the safe for emergencies." Ojiisan chuckled at him, "This counts. Yugi, you know the combination. There should be enough in there for you both to go if you want. Provided she's still in Japan."

"She is, but won't you need it for the shop?" Jou couldn't help but ask, worried considering that without Ojiisan to run it, the shop was temporarily closed which meant they weren't taking in any profits.

"Don't you worry about that." Ojiisan tutted at him, "We can afford to be closed for a week. How do you think we coped when we went on holiday?"

"Ojiisan, Yugi... thank you." Jou breathed, most of the tension leaving his frame.

"Just promise me you'll look after Yugi while you're at Duelist Kingdom." Ojiisan told him semi sternly.

"I promise." Jou nodded, determination taking over where hopelessness had been moment before.

"Good."

And that settled that. By the following afternoon Yugi had managed to get two reduced fare student tickets to the nearest station to where Shizuka now lived and since the following day was a half day, the pair of them went straight after school.

Yugi, who had refused to wear her uniform for longer than she had to, had packed a spare, tidy change of clothes and changed in the toilets. Then they had settled down at a table and Yugi started re-teaching Jou everything she could about the game.

With a playable deck Jou seemed to come on in leaps and bounds and by the time their six hour journey was over both Yugi and Oneesan were pleased with his progress. With five more days to go, they were pretty sure that Jou would stand a decent chance at the tournament. Even if he did have the bad habit of not thinking before he made his moves.

They got a taxi from the train station to the Kawai household and once there it took Jou ten minutes to build up the courage to knock on the door which astounded Yugi. He could and had faced down bullies, gang members, wielders of dark magic and demons and yet knocking on his sister's front door scared him?

She realised why when his mother, a woman who was just shorter than Jou, opened the door. She had shoulder length auburn hair and a piercing set of brown eyes and she didn't look happy to see her son at all.

"Okaasan." Jou bowed, "I'm here to see Shizuka."

"Oh." His mother replied, looking him up and down as if debating something before turning her gaze on Yugi. The girl couldn't help but feel like she was judging her as she asked, "And who's this?"

"Okaasan, this is Mutou Yugi," Jou replied, rising from the bow, his tone formal in a way it never was with Ojiisan or his teachers, gesturing to Yugi as he did so, "Yugi, this is Kawai Sakura. My Okaasan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Yugi bowed deep, showing respect and suddenly realising why Jou had insisted that she came with him. The only thing keeping the door open for her friend was his mother's desire not to appear rude in front of a stranger and she needed to make a good impression if it was going to stay that way.

"This is Mutou Yugi?" Jou's mother sounded surprised, causing Yugi to straighten as Jou's mother nodded to her, "The one you mentioned in the last few cassettes?" Jou's reply nod was short and sharp, though Yugi couldn't help but wonder what cassettes she meant.

Jou's mother considered them a moment longer then seemed to make up her mind about something and stepped aside, allowing them entrance into the house.

Jou entered first, Yugi hurrying through behind him. Mrs Kawai shut the door behind them, moving around them as they took their shoes off so she could enter the house properly. "Shizuka!" She yelled up the stairs, "You have guests!"

"Who?" A girl's voice called down, soft and unsure, so unlike her brash brother's voice that it startled Yugi.

"Come down and find out."

Yugi watched as the girl from the video carefully made her way down the stairs, holding on to the banister on one side and the railing that had been attached to the wall on the other. It wasn't until she got halfway down that she seemed to be able to register who was stood in the hallway.

"Oniisan!" The delighted squeal was just enough warning for Jou to brace himself before a high speed auburn blur hit him, causing him to stagger back even as he wrapped his sister in a hug.

"Hi Imoto-chan." Yugi felt like she was intruding at the soft, concerned tone her friend emitted as he hugged his sister. "How are you?"

"I've missed you." Shizuka murmured in reply, not letting go.

"I know. I'm sorry." Jou apologised, releasing his sister, only to smile ruefully when he had to guide her to the living room, "I only just got the train fare together. I've been meaning to come for months."

"It doesn't matter. You're here now." Shizuka grinned at him, before pausing and squinting at Yugi, who had followed them without a word, able to sense her older sister's curiosity about the whole situation. "Who's your friend?"

At Jou's gesture, Yugi came forward and bowed, "I'm Mutou Yugi." She introduced herself, "I'm a friend of your brother's."

"You're the one whose Ojiisan runs a Game Shop, right?" Shizuka asked, sounding curious and yet delighted to meet her, "The one my brother's been talking about for months."

"He has?" Yugi's confusion seemed to delight Shizuka, who pulled Yugi to the sofa to sit down with her. Jou sat on the arm of the chair next to his sister as she started babbling at Yugi about how Jou had been sending her audio cassette letters for years and he'd mentioned Yugi and the others so much over the last couple of months that she had wanted to meet them before...

Shizuka had trailed off at that point and glanced at her brother before staring at the floor. She knew that he was trying to find a way to pay for her operation and didn't like reminding him of her illness.

He didn't react the way she had expected this time though. She had expected him to stomp off and go quiet, much the way he had before. That wasn't what happened. Instead he smiled slightly and mumbled something under his breath that she didn't catch.

"Katsuya?" She asked, moving closer.

"There's a tournament." Jou started explaining, "Yuge and I are going. The prize money is three million yen."

"Three..." Shizuka stared at him, "You're not serious?"

"Yup." Jou nodded, "Serious as they come."

"That's great!" Shizuka grinned, relief obvious for a moment, then she grew sad, not wanting to get her hopes up. "But you still have to win."

"Yuge," Jou gestured to Yugi, "Never loses. Not in a fair game. And I'm no slouch at games either. Between the pair of us we've totally got this in the bag and then I'll be able to pay for your op, Shizuka!"

"Katsuya..." Shizuka trailed off. She was used to her older brother's madcap money grabbing attempts. She didn't want to trash his enthusiasm, but at the same time she had learned a long time ago not to rely on anything that wasn't guaranteed.

"Mutou-chan?" The sound of Jou's mother calling her made Yugi jump a mile. She turned to face the woman who had been listening in. "Can I have a word please? While Katsuya catches up with his sister?"

Yugi nodded, wondering what she wanted. When Jou gave her a curious, 'do you want backup?' look, she shook her head and stood up, gesturing for him to take her seat as she did so.

She followed the woman one room over into the kitchen where the woman started making tea, shooing Yugi away when she tried to help. Yugi couldn't help but notice that everything had a place tidily away, so very different from her own kitchen where you could find everything eventually and it was all clean, but nothing was ever where it should be.

It wasn't until the kettle started boiling that Jou's mother turned back to her. "Right, Mutou-chan." She started, pausing after. Yugi got the distinct feeling that she was deciding on exactly how to phrase what she wanted to say next.

"Thank you for letting Jou in, Kawai-san." Yugi decided to fill the silence when it started getting too drawn out and her discomfort started making her Anesan think something was wrong.

"I must admit, Mutou-chan, if he hadn't come with you, I wouldn't have." Jou's mother leant back against the work surface, still watching her like she was a Puzzle to work out, "My son... how much do you know about Katsuya's past?"

"I know about the gangs." Yugi told her outright, not bringing up her certainty that he wouldn't have ended up working for Hirutani if his mother hadn't abandoned him to the dubious care of his drunkard of a father. "And I know he's out of them now. For good."

"Thanks to you." The woman's comment confused Yugi.

"No, he was already out when I met him." Yugi blinked at her, tilting her head slightly in her confused curiosity, unable to help but wonder how the woman had drawn that conclusion.

"Yes, but..." Jou's mother chuckled a little bitterly, "You see Mutou-chan, Katsuya's been sending Shizuka audio letters for years. She replays them, over and over again, so I get to hear everything on them." She explained, "And I've noticed a pattern in the last few months."

"Oh?" Yugi couldn't help but ask.

"Ever since he's been friends with you, the casual mentions of fights have stopped, he's mentioned his grades have improved to the point where he's actually passing class, he's got a part time job and he's...happier, you can hear it in his voice." Jou's mother hesitated for a moment, "Thank you for that."

"The grades are Anzu's fault." Yugi was embarrassed by the gratitude, "She's turned it into a game. It's helped all of us."

"Still, you and your Ojiisan have given him a stable roof over his head and given him a reason to stay on the straight and narrow." Kawai pursed her lips slightly, "Something that his father never managed."

Yugi refrained from mentioning that the woman hadn't supported her son either as she tried not to feel like Kawai-san was passing responsibility for her son off to someone else.

"I have to ask, though." The woman continued as she poured the boiling water into the teapot, "Is it wise to let him gets his hopes up over this tournament? It seems like a bad idea to rely on it so heavily."

Yugi winced slightly. She was well aware of everything that could go wrong. Both of them were relying on winning all of their matches and anything could go pear shaped between now and then. Just one defeat could make the difference between total victory and crushing despair. She wasn't sure how to explain the situation though, not to someone who didn't know about magic or the Millennium Items or any of it.

"He's not the only one who's got a lot riding on it." Yugi admitted finally, "Ojiisan's in hospital and..."

"You're going to some tournament?" Kawai-san interrupted, sounding disgusted.

"I have to." Yugi insisted, "Unless I win there's nothing I can do to help him. So I'm going."

"And with two of you going, you both stand more of a chance of winning the prize money." Jou mother thought she understood. "Which I'm assuming you're going to split."

"I'm only going to take as much as I need, it won't be very much." Yugi replied, not caring about the prize money in the slightest, not when her Grandfather's soul was at stake, "Jou can have the rest for Shizuka-chan's operation."

"That's too generous." The woman didn't look like she believed her, "Why would you give up that much money? What do you get out of it?"

Yugi had to soothe her elder sister's fraying temper as she realised the woman was implying she was going to hold it over Jou or force him into some unfair agreement.

"Isn't helping Ojiisan and Shizuka-chan enough?" Oneesan asked, taking over, a frown on her features and not appreciating the slight to her little sister. "Do I have to have some ulterior motive?"

"Everyone has ulterior motives." Jou's mother responded hotly, glowering back, "Especially when money's involved."

"Okaasan?" Serenity's voice from the doorway broke the staring match as Jou's mother looked away first, turning to her daughter. "Something wrong?"

"No, dear." Kawai-san shook her head, "But it's getting late and Katsuya and his friend have to be leaving soon."

"But you made tea." Shizuka protested, "I can smell it. Please don't make Katsuya leave yet."

"Shizuka..." Her mother was firm and Oneesan watched the girl shrink under her mother's gaze.

"It's okay, Imoto-chan." Jou moved into the doorway, having heard Oneesan's deeper tones. He had half expected his mother to have pissed off the spirit of the Puzzle, causing a Shadow Game and leaving him to explain to Shizuka why their mother was now a gibbering wreck, "I'll come over after Duelist Kingdom, okay? Once I have the prize money." Shizuka looked unhappy but nodded her acquiescence. "Yuge?" He looked over to Oneesan, "Shall we?"

Oneesan nodded, shooting one last dirty look at Jou's mother as she followed her friend out of the house.

"Well..." Jou sighed as they finished tying their shoes outside the front door.

Yugi took back over, looking a little hurt, "You don't think I want something from you in exchange for the prize money? Do you?"

"One of these days I'm going to end up slapping her." Jou grimaced as he guided Yugi away from the house, "No. You're not like that. If you were anyone else maybe, but no, I trust you."

"Good." Yugi looked a little happier at that.

"Now come on, we have more important things to worry about than my mother and her stupid ideas." He continued, looking around, "Like my training. I can't win that prize money if I suck at the game."

"You don't suck." Yugi jokingly scolded him with a tut that was rather reminiscent of Anzu, causing Jou to grin at her, "You just need practise."

"Well let's get a taxi, get on the train home and then," Jou took a breath as he grimaced at the thought of the train journey, "We'll have six hours to practise."

"Yes," Yugi winced, not looking forward to it, "Yes we will."

**LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

**Author Note: Right, from now on this story is going up unbeta'd long term, so any mistakes are all my own. I'm dyslexic so there may be word, spelling and grammar issues from now on. The Word Processor helps me out, but there might be a few mistakes I don't see until long after I post the chapters. I hope you guys can bear with me.**

**Also I had a question a while back about why the series is called 'Ennead.' The Ennead was the Egyptian Pantheon, or one version of it. Nine deities in all. It seemed fitting for a series whose roots are in Ancient Egypt and which has 9 planned books/arcs. There are one or two stories extra in the set, like 'Light Amongst Shadows' and the Ancient bits going up on my daily blog, but there are nine planned books in this series. Not all of them manga though. There's things I want to play with that were outside the manga cannon and you'll see which things those are later. **

**In the mean time while I apologise that the first chapter was rather glued to the manga, I do plan on pulling away more now. The duels themselves might be close to the cannon, purely because while I can write Battle City style duels easily, Duelist Kingdom doesn't really have defined rules. This is official. The writer was making them up as he went along. He admits this. This makes it both very difficult and very easy to rewrite DK Duels. **

**My point is the interactions will be different, as you can already see from the above chapter, and there will be some more changes as the book goes on. I hope you all will like them.**


End file.
